Beijing, March 16 (Xinhua) -- In the early morning of Beijing time on the 16th, in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Manchester United, which played at home, lost 0:1 to Atletico Madrid, who advanced to the quarterfinals with an aggregate score of 2:1. Coupled with Paris Saint-Germain, who was previously eliminated, this is already the second consecutive year that Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have missed the Top 8 of the Champions League.
Image source: Manchester United's official Weibo.
In the 41st minute of the match, Griezmann sent a cross and Roddy's header helped Atletico take the lead in the first half.
Manchester United have repeatedly tried to reverse the situation on the pitch through substitution adjustments, but have not achieved good results. In the end, the score of 0:1 was maintained until the end, and Manchester United ended the Season Champions League with an aggregate score of 1:2. In their last 15 Champions League knockout matches, United have only won 2, drawn 4 and lost 9.
Post-match statistics show that C Ronaldo played 90 minutes in this game, failed to complete the shot, touched the ball 50 times in the whole game, and lost the ball 10 times.
In the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on the 10th of Beijing time, Real Madrid reversed Paris Saint-Germain led by Messi 3:1 and advanced to the quarter-finals with an aggregate score of 3:2.
After the game, Messi covered his face with his hands and could not hide his disappointment. Many fans have expressed their heartache for Messi because his team has suffered many reversals in the Champions League in recent years.
On November 29, local time, the annual award ceremony of the Ballon d'Or Awards hosted by French Football magazine was held in Paris, France, and Argentine star Lionel Messi, who played for Paris Saint-Germain, won the Golden Ball Award, which symbolized the best player of the year in 2021, which was the seventh time in Messi's career to receive this award, once again breaking the record of the most golden balls won by himself. Pictured here is Messi holding his seventh Ballon d'Or trophy.
This is already the second consecutive season that Messi and Ronaldo have missed the Top 8 of the Champions League. Last season, Cristiano Ronaldo was blocked from the quarter-finals by Porto at Juventus, while Messi, who was still playing for Barca at the time, was eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain.
Many netizens asked, is the era of Messi and C Ronaldo really over? In fact, for these two stars who have passed the age of establishment, they have created miracles on the field too many times, and have long become the memories of a generation of football. (End)